# Final Girl (film)
*Final Girl* is a 2015 American thriller film directed by photographer Tyler Shields, in his feature directorial debut, in which a teenage girl lured into the woods by a group of boys who hunt girls for sport turns out to be an assassin-in-training who kills them as her final test.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/final-girl/) It stars [Abigail Breslin](https://www.edgepedia.org/abigail-breslin) as Veronica and [Wes Bentley](https://www.edgepedia.org/wes-bentley) as William, her mentor.[3](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/final-girl/umc.cmc.2vvd1gisdd7mbwf12lxvbw0pu) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/final-girl/) The film takes its title from the horror-film trope of the final girl, the lone female survivor of a slasher film.[4](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/what-happened-to-cinemas-virginal-final-girl/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director | Tyler Shields, a photographer making his directorial debut[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) |
| Cast | Abigail Breslin (Veronica), Wes Bentley (William), Logan Huffman (Danny), Alexander Ludwig (Jameson), Cameron Bright (Shane), Reece Thompson (Nelson)[3](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/final-girl/umc.cmc.2vvd1gisdd7mbwf12lxvbw0pu) |
| Writers | Screenplay by Adam Prince; Metacritic also credits Johnny Silver, Stephen Scarlata, and Alejandro Seri; story by Jonny Silver[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/final-girl/) • [5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Final-Girl) |
| Release | Limited theatrical release August 14, 2015; DVD and streaming October 6, 2015; streaming release November 1, 2016[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) • [6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/final-girl) |
| Rating and runtime | R (disturbing violent content, some language); 90 minutes[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) • [6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/final-girl) |
| Production | Prospect Park and NGN Productions; distributed by Cinedigm[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) |
| Reception | 23% on the Tomatometer from 13 reviews; 23% on the Popcornmeter from more than 1,000 audience ratings, averaging 2.4 out of 5[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
Having only recently arrived in town, the teenager Veronica is drawn into the forest by a pack of high-school seniors who pursue girls as prey and murder them for recreation. The boys do not know that Veronica has been trained to handle herself in lethal ways: she is an assassin-in-training, and killing these boys is her final test, so the hunters become the hunted.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/final-girl/) Apple TV's synopsis frames the same setup as a deadly "initiation" game in which the boys choose the wrong target, a girl whose past has made her "the final girl these boys ever invite to their game."[3](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/final-girl/umc.cmc.2vvd1gisdd7mbwf12lxvbw0pu)
Bentley's character William is Veronica's highly skilled mentor; Variety's critic Justin Chang, a film critic then at Variety, described the film as a thriller of comeuppance that leaves the viewer wanting more insight into the connection between the assassin and her mentor.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/final-girl/) Common Sense Media notes that the story deals with rape, sexual assault, and domestic abuse within the context of a "game" in which a group of teen rapists chases and dispatches their victims.[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/final-girl)
## Production and release
The film was produced by Rob Carliner, Jack Nasser, and Joseph Nasser, through Prospect Park and NGN Productions, and was distributed by Cinedigm.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) Its regions of origin are listed as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, with [JustWatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/justwatch) listing the production countries as Canada and the United States.[3](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/final-girl/umc.cmc.2vvd1gisdd7mbwf12lxvbw0pu) • [7](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/final-girl)
*Final Girl* opened in limited theatrical release on August 14, 2015, and reached DVD and streaming on October 6, 2015.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) • [6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/final-girl) Rotten Tomatoes lists a separate streaming release date of November 1, 2016.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) The marketing tagline was "The hunted becomes the hunter."[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/final-girl/) As of late 2026 the film streams on services including Peacock, Pluto TV, Tubi TV, and Plex, and can be rented or bought digitally.[7](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/final-girl)
## Reception
**Critical response was largely negative.** On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 23% Tomatometer score from 13 reviews, with 3 fresh and 10 rotten, and an average of rated reviews of 3.90/10; the audience Popcornmeter also stands at 23% from more than 1,000 ratings, averaging 2.4 out of 5.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) Metacritic's user score is 4.2, described as mixed or average, based on 20 user ratings.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/final-girl/)
Individual reviews were divided over the film's style. Joe Neumaier of the [New York Daily News](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-daily-news) gave it 0/5, writing that an Oscar nominee such as Breslin "shouldn't even watch 'Final Girl,' much less star in it."[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) Chang's Variety review (50 on Metacritic) called it a "patchy, underwritten thriller" that could almost pass for a critique of genre forebears in which a hot, ass-kicking female avenger is meant to seem subversive simply by her presence.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/final-girl/) Chuck Bowen of Slant Magazine, rating it 2.5/4, asked what the point of the film's fussy allusions was.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) Zena Dixon of Real Queen of Horror took the opposite view on the visuals, calling it "a visually beautiful film" from the photographer-turned-director.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl) Common Sense Media's review called the movie "a tasteless, confusing, violent mess" with undercooked plotting.[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/final-girl)
The film received recognition for its younger performers: one win and one nomination at the Joey Awards, Vancouver, and one nomination at the Young Entertainer Awards.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/final-girl/)
## The title and the final girl trope
The title borrows a term from horror-film criticism. The film scholar Carol J. Clover, a professor whose work on gender in horror cinema is widely cited, conceived the "final girl" in her 1987 paper "Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film" and expanded it in her 1992 book *Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film*, using it to describe the sole female victim who remains alive to tell the story of a film's violent crimes.[8](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/final-girl-horror-movies-explained-77788/) • [4](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/what-happened-to-cinemas-virginal-final-girl/) Clover's central idea was that the viewer initially sees the final girl through the killer's perspective, then begins to identify directly with her.[4](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/what-happened-to-cinemas-virginal-final-girl/) In *Final Girl*, the trope is inverted at the level of premise: the apparent victim is the trained killer from the start.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/final-girl/)
**A separate 2015 film shares the name.** *The Final Girls*, a horror comedy directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson and written by M. A. Fortin and [Joshua John Miller](https://www.edgepedia.org/joshua-john-miller), premiered in [Austin, Texas](https://www.edgepedia.org/austin-texas) on March 13, 2015 and opened in Los Angeles and New York on October 9, 2015.[9](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70514-THE-FINAL-GIRLS) In it, Max ([Taissa Farmiga](https://www.edgepedia.org/taissa-farmiga)) and her friends are mysteriously pulled into the world of *Camp Bloodbath*, a 1980s slasher film that starred Max's late mother (Malin Akerman), and must apply their knowledge of horror tropes to survive.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_final_girls) It fared far better with critics, holding a 76% Tomatometer score from 80 reviews, with a critics consensus praising its affectionate nod to slasher tropes and its layer of genuine emotion.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_final_girls) A 2015 academic account notes that the two same-year films, Shields's *Final Girl* and Strauss-Schulson's *The Final Girls*, both centered on the final girl figure.[11](https://escholarship.org/content/qt35s3w631/qt35s3w631.pdf)
## References
1. [Final Girl, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_girl)
2. [Final Girl Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/final-girl/)
3. [Final Girl, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/final-girl/umc.cmc.2vvd1gisdd7mbwf12lxvbw0pu)
4. [What Happened to Cinema's Virginal Final Girl?, Rotten Tomatoes Editorial (Cate Young, 2021)](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/what-happened-to-cinemas-virginal-final-girl/)
5. [Final Girl (2015), Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Final-Girl)
6. [Final Girl, Parents' Guide & Movie Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/final-girl)
7. [Final Girl streaming: where to watch movie online?, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/final-girl)
8. [What Is a Final Girl? Examples From Horror Movies + Acting Tips, Backstage](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/final-girl-horror-movies-explained-77788/)
9. [The Final Girls (2015), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70514-THE-FINAL-GIRLS)
10. [The Final Girls, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_final_girls)
11. [UC Santa Cruz eScholarship dissertation excerpt on 2015 final girl films](https://escholarship.org/content/qt35s3w631/qt35s3w631.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Action and adventure horror films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license